Loudness summation of equal loud narrowband signals in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

Abstract

Objective: Loudness perception of binaural broadband signals, e.g. speech shaped noise, shows large individual differences using frequency-dependent amplification which was adjusted to restore the loudness perception of monaural narrowband signals in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. To better understand and quantify this highly individual effect, loudness perception of broadband stimuli consisting of a number of spectrally separated narrowband components which where individually adjusted to equal loudness is of interest. Design: Based on categorical loudness scaling, the loudness of an equal categorical loudness noise (ECLN) consisting of six third-octave noises was assessed. For loudness categories “medium” und “very loud” the required narrowband loudness was analysed. Study sample: Nine normal-hearing (NH) and ten HI listeners. Results: HI listeners showed lower narrowband loudness values compared to NH listeners, indicating an increased spectral loudness summation. More than 50% of the HI listeners showed higher binaural spectral loudness summation compared to NH listeners. The amount of binaural spectral loudness summation was highly correlated (r² = 0.92) with the loudness level at “very loud” of aided speech shaped noise. Conclusions: The suggested ECLN measurement is suited to assess individual (binaural) broadband loudness in aided conditions, providing valuable information for hearing-aid fitting.

Key Words:

• Loudness summation
• categorical loudness scaling
• hearing impairment
• hearing-aid fitting
• diagnosis
• recruitment

Acknowledgements

We thank Birger Kollmeier, Volker Hohmann, and Jens-E. Appell for their support and inspiring discussions.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. This work was supported by the DFG Cluster of Excellence EXC 1077/1 “Hearing4all” and DFG FOR 1732 (TP E).